Hey Mr Bloodsucker, Sucks To Be You

Chapter 12

Hale ~#~

Dante called at three o'clock in the morning with news on his assignment. I picked up the phone and held it to my ear, suddenly wary of his message.

"Hale." He sounded calm, collected. "We've got something for you."

"You caught Mai? Cappa?"

"Close enough." Dante's voice got slightly louder as a muffled shout  of protest rose out of the background. "We've caught Savius. And some guy who's calling himself Kye. Is this the Malakye person you told me about?"

"Probably." I frowned. "Where'd you find them?"

"At some car hire place. I thought Mai and Cappa would be with them, but they weren't. They're refusing to tell us where they are."

"Don't kill them." I warned. "Bring them back. We need all the help we can get."

Matt and Fred's return had only made more certain that I was was stronger than the clan had first thought. When Dante and Prince had returned with them, I'd sent them back out to help Penny and Tristan track the ones we needed the most.

"Right." Dante's voice got more distant as he shouted into the background. "Get them in the Jeep! And put the damned stake away Prince, Hale wants them alive!"

I hung up before he could say anything else to me. I rose off the sofa and went to find Dimitri outside. He was facing the woods, with his shoulders hunched and his hands shoved deep in his pokcets.

"Dimitri." I came to a stop beside him. The Others had been released out of the room for fear of a mass-slaughter, and Dimitri had escaped outside shortly after.

When I said he was the toughest, I meant mentally, not physically. Really he was quite slim, with black trousers and a long coat on, with dark tousled hair and sharp grey eyes. But even Dimitri could be broken sometimes.

"Hale." His voice was calm and collected like Dante, but icy. It felt strange to think about it, but I always imagined his voice with a coat of frost on it. "How are the Others?"

"Fine." I regarded him suspiciously. "And what are you doing out here?"

"Do you need me in there?"

"No."

"Then that's why I'm out here."

I had to be careful around him, he was too clever to be treated the same as the useless suckers I had boxed in the basement. "There are rogue Halves around. If you get attacked we won't be able to find a replacement."

Dimitri really was indisposable. But he knew that already. He exhaled slowly, turning his face towards the snow.

"I'm not planning on getting attacked." He turned to face me, and his eyes were wide, as always. It annyoed me that I had overheard Penny talking to him about how supposedley beautiful they were. "Where's Mai?"

"Penny and Tristan haven't recovered them yet. Prince and Dante are on the trail too, we'll find them faster with four."

I could see the cogs in his head turning. "Right." He swivelled towards the house. "They need to eat."

"The hungrier they are, the more angry they are." I hissed. "We'll give them the minimum. And keep feeding them the minimum until we're ready."

"What you're planning to do will kill Mai as well as the Halves." He avoided sounding accusing, so it just seemed like he was interested. "Are you really willing to do that? There hasn't be a born vampire in centuries."

"I'll do what I need to." I glanced arund the blanket of white. "Get back inside. There's blood stores in the fridge, the key's in the safe."

Dimitri didn't say anything. Instead, he turned round and walked back towards the House. I followed him quietly, worrying about his loyalties. I had to know he'd follow me no matter what.

 Kye ~#~

We never saw them coming. Silently, I cursed myself for being so blind, I should've seen them at the car hire. I watched as the curly-haired man started up the car, 'Dante', the other man had called him, and tried to worm my fingers through the tight mesh of the dog bars they'd put up between the front and back seats.Maybe I could at least pull it off....The man who wasn't Dante hit my hands and turned back round in his seat with a barked order to sit back and shut up, despite the fact I hadn't spoken a word.

"Dante." Growled Sav, who was trying his hardest to smash the window. "Seriously. The next chance I get, I promise you I will kill you myself."

"Well that's fine by me, seeing as Hale is only keeping you alive until we get back anyway." Dante replied over his shoulder. "And he won't deny me the pleasure of staking you myself."

Sav spat at him. It landed on the windscreen and the man who wasn't Dante turned round, fists at the ready, forgetting about the dog bars. I smirked depsite the situation. He couldn't hurt us anymore than we could hurt them.

"Bad luck." I muttered quietly, and the man jerked his chin in my direction.

"Turn round Prince." Dante muttered, pressing his foot down on the accelerator. "You can't hurt them through the bars. You'll get your chance when we get out."

I stiffened, and cast a look at my brother. He was still desperatley clawing at the window, and he'd even tried head-butting it.

"This isn't Cappa's car." I hissed at him. "They've probably got reinforced glass!"

"Smart kid." Came Prince's voice form the front.

"Ha ha." I growled at him. "Where are you taking us?"

"For a ride." Mocked Dante, squinting out of the blacked out windows.

Sav just rolled his eyes. "Home." He said simply.

How could a simple word have so much fear in it?

Mai ~#~

We were on the road again. Cappa's car had blacked out windows for obvious reasons, apart from the one Savius had broken in the back, which let a shaft of sunlight fall onto the back seat. I had rescued the blood backpack from it when the sun began to rise, knowing that once it was in the sky we wouldn't be able to drink until it had set again. I drummed my fingers on the side of my seat, now and then reaching over to take Cappie's hand reassuringly, until he had to take it back to steer. We passed loads of hotels and villages, occasional signs. We didn't stop.

"Cappie?"

"Yeah?"

"Thirsty?" I offered him the bottle, and he tipped it back, obviously not realising how thirsty he was until I'd asked. "Where are we stopping?"

"Mmm." He handed it back. "Thanks. I don't know...any ideas?"

He seemed a lot calmer now Sav and Kye were gone. Probably because there were less peple for him to keep alive.

"I don't even know where we are."

"That makes two of us."

I glared at him in alarm. "We're lost?!"

"Relax." He soothed, resting his hand over mine. "If we don't know where we are, the chances are They don't know where they are either, seeing as they're chasing us."